A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (german: Felsnadel, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. Examples are the summits of the

Aiguille du Midi The Aiguille du Midi () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. Cable car The idea fo ...

in the

Mont Blanc massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the almost 43-metre-high

Barbarine The Barbarine is the best-known free-standing rock formation in the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is a rock pinnacle, high, and is the symbol of Saxon Switzerland. It was first climbed on 19 September 1905. Location The Barba ...

on the south side of the

Pfaffenstein The Pfaffenstein, formerly called the ''Jungfernstein'', is a table hill,''"Der Pfaffenste ...

hill near Königstein in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, or the Bischofsmütze, the

Drei Zinnen The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (; ), also called the Drei Zinnen (; ), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, f ...

and the

Vajolet Towers The Vajolet towers are six summits in the Dolomites in Val di Fassa, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...

in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

, which are rich in such towers. An area of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

formations within

Nambung National Park Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes. The park contains the Pinnacles Desert which is an are ...

, near the town of

Cervantes, Western Australia Cervantes is a town in Western Australia located off of Indian Ocean Drive about north-north-west of the state capital, Perth in the Shire of Dandaragan local government area. At the 2016 census, Cervantes had a population of 527. The town ...

, is known as The Pinnacles. File:Cerro Torre.jpg,

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peaks a ...

3,133 m (south flank ~2,150 m),

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

, Argentina/Chile File:Barbarine001.jpg, The

(43 m high),

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sands ...

, Germany File:Vajolett-Tuerme.jpg, The

2,790 m (main tower 120 m high),

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, Italy File:TH Phang Nga - James Bond Island.jpg, Khao Ta Pu (known as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

Island) off

Khao Phing Kan Khao Phing Kan ( th, เขาพิงกัน, ) or Ko Khao Phing Kan (, ) is an island in Thailand, in Phang Nga Bay northeast of Phuket. About from the shores of Khao Phing Kan lies a tall islet called Ko Ta Pu (, ) or Ko Tapu (, ). Th ...

, Thailand File:Pinnacles gnangarra-62.jpg, The Pinnacles,

, Western Australia File:Rock pinnacle, Yaverland, IW, UK.jpg, Small

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rock pinnacle at

Yaverland Yaverland is a village on the Isle of Wight, just north of Sandown on Sandown Bay. It has about 200 houses. About of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor and Church. Holotype fossils have been discovered here of ''Yaverlan ...

, Isle of Wight, UK, formed as a result of cliff erosion File:Top of the Rock, Branson, Missouri, USA.jpg, Top of the Rock Golf Course Limestone Pinnacles (excavated to a depth of 60 m in areas), Branson, Missouri, USA File:Debre Sema'it rock chuch.jpg,

Debre Sema'it Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar ha ...

rock church on the top of a pinnacle in Ethiopia

External links

Landforms {{topography-stub

See also

External links